Florida quarterback Tim Tebow scrambles from the backfield during the second half of a football game against Florida Atlantic in Gainesville, Fla., in this Nov. 17, 2007 file photo. Florida won 59-20. (John Raoux, The Associated Press)

Tim Tebow and Champ Bailey were among the players honored by the Football Writers Association of America in its 75th anniversary college football All-America Team.

Both Tebow and Bailey made the second team, as did former Colorado Buffaloes kicker Mason Crosby. Former Broncos cornerback Dré Bly was named to the third team.

Missy Franklin was named the winner of the Sullivan Award on Tuesday night in Orlando, and she suceeds several athletes with Colorado connections on the list of those named the top amateur athlete in the United States in a given year.

Some of the Colorado connections are tangential or brief, or both, but at group includes Bill Toomey, Frank Shorter, Peyton Manning, Mary Decker, Tim Tebow … and the man pictured above. Read more…

Comments Off on Missy Franklin succeeds Glenn Morris, who beat out Jesse Owens, as a Coloradan Sullivan winner

Jim Nantz drives all kinds of carts as a TV broadcaster. He’s CBS’ go-to guy — for college basketball, the NFL and the PGA, among others. Basically for everything.

So Nantz is in a unique position, and close enough to the action, to comment on all kinds of upcoming biggies in the sports world. He’ll be especially busy this month with March Madness, as the Final Four play-by-play voice at the NCAA Tournament.

He’ll then zip over to Augusta in early April for golf’s Super Bowl — the Masters. Not to mention, as a veteran NFL voice on CBS’ A-team, Nantz got a good look at the Broncos and Tim Tebow last season.

So Colorado sports fans have plenty to talk about with Nantz, when he answers questions next week for The Denver Post’s “Fan Mail” Q&A.

Ask Nantz about March Madness, the Masters, the Broncos and Tebow, or anything else sporty. Let him have it.

New CSU football coach Jim McElwain with his family at his introductory news conference in December. With him are children JoHanna, Jerret, and Elizabeth; and wife, Karen.

My story on new CSU coach Jim McElwain is in the Tuesday newspaper and posted online. Read it here. By necessity, it is a snapshot of our extensive interview, conducted last Friday before the confirmation of the Mountain West-Conference USA merger. As I did with a similar piece about CSU President Tony Frank in December, I’ll pass along a more extensive transcript of our conversation here. Some of this touches on what he has discussed since his hiring; much goes beyond that. I’ve eliminated what I used in the story, so this is supplemental. Read more…

FORT COLLINS – With most sports fans’ attention focused on Tim Tebow or Carmelo Anthony, Colorado State has flown under the radar as one of the better stories in the region.

The basketball program is not just healing under fourth-year head coach Tim Miles, but is showing signs of thriving. And this season, which featured one huge Cancun Governor’s Cup tournament win highlighted by victories over Ole Miss and Southern Miss, he has leaned on the senior duo of Andy Ogide and Travis Franklin to lead the way.

They are the first two players on every opponent’s scouting report, the duo that has to be stopped in order to have a shot at beating the Rams. From Baton Rouge, La. (Franklin) and Marietta, Ga. (Ogide) they are Colorado State’s ‘DSD.’

“Down South Duo,” said Franklin, smiling wide.

Or, Dynamic Scoring Duo. At a combined average of 30 points per game, Ogide and Franklin account for 39.4 percent of the Rams points; and with a combined average of 12.3 rebounds the two account for 36.7 percent of the team’s rebounding output.

If things are getting done these two are more than likely in the middle of it.

BOULDER – Speaking to reporters following a two-hour morning practice on Tuesday, Colorado junior quarterback Tyler Hansen knew he would be asked about the message he posted on Twitter on Saturday after the 52-7 thrashing by California in Berkeley.

He didn’t back off.

“I was frustrated, and I wanted to tell everyone how I felt. It’s unacceptable,” Hansen said of the “never again” Tweet, which was reminiscent of the post-game remarks by Tim Tebow a year ago after his Florida Gators lost to Mississippi. “As much as the fans are frustrated, we’re frustrated too.

“We feel the pain. We know what it’s like. It’s not like we don’t care. I wanted everyone to make sure that it wasn’t going to happen again. We will not play like that ever again.

“I just felt like I needed to say something. I felt like it was time. It’s kind of a rough spot. The team was frustrated. I knew the fans didn’t like it and I knew the fans were trying to reach out and kind of getting after it a little bit.

“We are not 45 points worse than Cal. That was not us,” Hansen added. “We did not play on offense. I don’t know what that was. Maybe were a little lackadaisical, a little comfortable. But we just have to play better.”

Hansen said he took down the Tweet about two hours after he had posted it.

“I didn’t want people to make a big deal about it,” Hansen said. “I didn’t want people to dwell on it and go crazy.”

Hansen said the team can’t afford to panic.

“Some guys were down after the game and panicking. But we can’t do that,” he said. “We’re still a good football team. We know that. We’re 1-1. It’s not like we’re 0-8. It was the second game of the year. So guys have to think about that a little bit. We still have 10 games left on our schedule. There’s a lot of football to be played.

There may be other analogies, but it seems to me that sports fans are like lawyers in that they can argue from both sides of an issue and believe emphatically and without reservations that they are right — either way.

College football fans that are ripping Florida coach Urban Meyer and his staff for failing to correct Tim Tebow’s unorthodox throwing motion are many of the same people that rip Ohio State coach Jim Tressel for running a pro-style offense with Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor and not letting Pryor do his thing in a spread or option attack.

Say what?

Pryor said one of the reasons he signed with Ohio State instead of Michigan or Oregon was because he wants to become an NFL quarterback and not get type-cast as a run-first QB.

Sports fans. Gotta love ’em.

And, yes, I’ve also been guilty at times of trying to have it both ways.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.